Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Best pumpkin recipes

I have a confession to make. It's almost the end of October and I haven't cooked one single pumpkin recipe yet. You might wonder what is wrong with me. The answer is nothing. It's really not my fault. The problem is you cannot find canned pumpkin in Italy nor in Switzerland, a fact that makes cooking with pumpkin suddenly a lot more time-consuming. Because let's face it: dealing with a whole pumpkin is a giant pain in the ass. I'm not saying I'm not going to do it all —pumpkin is one of my favorite ingredients after all— but surely I won't be cooking as many pumpkin recipes as I used to when I lived in the United States. That said, here are five great pumpkin recipes that I absolutely love. In fact, I love them so much I'm going to go through the pain of cutting up a whole pumpkin.

PUMPKIN BREAD I'm not a morning person, which also makes me a generally anti-breakfast person. There are, of course, exceptions and this bread is one of them. Spiced pumpkin bread and a cup of coffee turn me into one of those annoying persons that smile and talk at 8 a.m.

PUMPKIN AND SMOKED PAPRIKA SOUP It's no secret that I'm a soup freak, especially when the weather turns a little cool. This one is made with pumpkin, yellow peppers and smoked paprika... sweet and smoky and thick. What else couold you ask for?

PASTA WITH PUMPKIN AND SAUSAGE Who knew that spicy sausage, sharp cheese and sweet pumpkin were a match made in heaven? Well, they are. This pasta dish explodes with flavor and if that isn't enough to convince you, it's also very easy and quick to make, perfect for weeknights.

ITALIAN STYLE PUMPKIN "PIE" This isn't your mother's pumpkin pie. First of all it's savory —which makes it a better pie in my book. Second, it's best enjoyed with slices of prosciutto and Italian salami, and any excuse to gorge on prosciutto is a welcome one.

FALL VEGETABLES STRUDEL This recipe is awesome. A play on the classic apple strudel, it's the perfect way to get rid of whatever leftover vegetables you have in the fridge. Plus it looks really sharp, so you can serve it as a vegetarian dish if you have people over for dinner.

4 comments:

Have you tried roasting your pumpkin whole? My mom does that...she washes it, then pokes several holes (so the steam can escape when cooking), then roasts it (I'm not sure for how long or at what temp). But then it's pretty easy for her to scoop out the flesh (which is mush at that point :) ). Your pumpkin recipes sound delicious...definitely worth the extra effort. :)

They all look great--especially the soup with the paprika. Yum. I have to admit I haven't cooked with pumpkin this year yet either--but I'm hitting up the grocery store tonight and I have both acorn and butternut squash on the list. It's time to get the winter squash on the menu in my kitchen!

Oddly enough, last night I cooked (baked) the only baby red hubbard squash to come from the garden. I can heave a huge sign of relief now, because as far as pumpkin-anything-else, I doubt that we'll be carving one for Halloween this year. Oooh...and as for pumpkin pies, well, you couldn't have said it any better!

Faith,thanks for the tip! After much complaining on this blog, yesterday I was at the grocery store and discovered that they actually sell quartered pumpkin... which makes everything much easier, since the cutting is what really gets me!

Jenna,thanks for stopping by. For some odd reason we don;t have as many types of squash here in Europe... or maybe I don't know where to look. It's definitely one ingredient I miss from the U.S.!

Rowena,I was thinking about carving a pumpkin, but can't find a big one anywhere... do you have any suggestions?

Me, in a nutshell

I'm a cook, a writer, a journalist, a daughter, a girlfriend, a cat owner, a drinker, a sister, a traveler, a dual citizen, a skier, a scuba diver, a photographer and, as of recently, a Swiss resident.